The Wobble of the Axis
by ATardisToTheStars
Summary: "Yes, it wobbles. This tells us life isn't nearly as stable as we wish it was. Things move, things change. Constantly. There's not a damn thing we can do about it." Avalon returns to the Jeffersonian, filling it with things unsaid. B&B fluff and unease.


**Authors Note: I've been thinking a lot about Avalon the psychic recently, so I typed up this little one-shot. It's B&B-ish with a little Hannah (I deliberately made it so she doesn't talk much. I'm sure she's a lovely person, she just needs to get her grubby hands off Booth.), and plenty of awkwardness, just because. Anyways, hope you like it. I sure had fun writing it.**

Angela was lying on the floor with her feet firmly on the wall-the only position that was currently comfortable. She was reading one of her many pregnancy books and munching on Doritos with avocado dip, waiting for her best friend to maybe stop by or _anything_ really. It was an exceptionally boring day for the artist, as the case was going slow and she had nothing to do. Angela sighs and turns on her side, away from the door and closer to her food. She suddenly hears a soft knock on the door, and rolls to it so she's on her stomach, head turned toward the door.

"Avalon!" She squeals. The psychic smiles and sits criss-cross on the floor next to Angela.

"Hello Angela. It's been a long time." Angela's face drops, and she quickly flips upright so she's sitting like her psychic.

"I'm _so_ sorry Avalon!" She apologies quickly, sounding extremely sincere. "I really am! I've been just so busy, no time to-"Again Avalon smiles, and pulls out her tarot deck. She shuffles it twice, and sets the stack between herself and Angela.

"I'm not here for an explanation. I'm here because I sensed I should be. For what I'm not exactly sure… so in the mean time." She gestures to the deck of cards and Angela splits the deck in half. Avalon pulls a card and sets it between the two stacks.

"Wheel of Fortune. Upright." She says. "The beginning of a new cycle." Angela grins a little and Avalon tells her to pick a card this time. She lifts her hand over the left deck, then the right. She closes her eyes and draws a card from the left pile, sets it down next to the Wheel of Fortune, then opens her eyes.

"The Empress?" Angela asks. Avalon nods.

"In relation to the Wheel of Fortune…" Avalon smiles. "You're pregnant!" Angela squeals again.

"Yes! You sure haven't lost your touch! And I'm also-"

"Married. Yes. I know." Avalon interrupts. Angela's eyes get wide again.

"You got _that _from the cards too! You're _really _good." Avalon shakes her head at Angela's mistake.

"Sure honey. Or, you know, the _ring_ on your left hand." Avalon grabs her hand and examines the ring. Angela blushes.

"Oh. Right..."

"_Nice_ rock!" She says, referring to the large diamond on Angela's hand.

"Yeah." Angela says. "Hodgens has great taste in jewelry." Avalon is still staring at her ring.

"You can't even see where the Titanic hit this thing!" Angela stars to laugh and they both turn when they hear a voice say,

"It's highly improbable that Angela's marriage ring is made from the ice berg that sunk the Titanic, seeing as it is made of extremely expensive diamond and not ice." Brennan says from Angela's doorway. Avalon looks past her to see Booth walking toward his partner, grinning, and some attractive blonde trailing behind him.

"It's just a figure of speech Bones. Avalon is saying her ring is really big," Booth makes a large hand gesture to express how big, and almost hits his girlfriend in the face. "Like big as the ice berg that sunk the Titanic which is also, _really freaking big!" _Booth then makes an even bigger gesture, and both Brennan and Hannah have to dodge arms. Brennan smiles at him.

"Oh. Thank you Booth. I get it now." Booth smiles back and says,

"Anytime Bones." Their eyes lock for a few tense seconds, and everyone can feel the electricity and tension between the two. Brennan squints at him, daring Booth to look away. He doesn't. The whole room counts to eight before Booth forfeits and breaks the contact. As he clears his throat awkwardly, he looks at Avalon.

"Um…So. Whatcha doing here Avalon?" He says when he really wants to say, "I thought you said this thing between Bones and I would work out! Well guess what? It didn't!" Instead of answering Booth she turns to Angela.

"What's up with the blonde?" Avalon asks her. Angela quickly slips in to what anyone who knows her calls "Gossip Mode", and proceeds to quickly update Avalon on the current situations.

"Well, Booth and Bren went to opposite sides of the world for seven months! And we all thought 'well, absence makes the heart grow fonder.' We were all so sure they would come home a full blown couple. We even had a huge FBI slash Jeffersonian pool going on for everyone's guesses on when they would tell us. It was a great bonding experience. I picked the first damn second she was on USA land she'd call and tell me 'Guess what Ange! You were right this whole freaking time!' But…she didn't. Because Booth came back with..."

Angela trails off and looks at a very awkward love triangle. Hannah is looking up; face red because Angela made her sound like the other woman. And she wasn't. Right? And Booth is looking at his shoes, wishing the devil would just open up hell now and suck him in. Brennan is looking at Angela, stone faced except for her eyes which confirm the story.

"Oh. Wow. Really awkward. I'm so sorry Bren!" Brennan closes her eyes for a few seconds, and when she opens them everyone can tell she has pushed every ounce of feeling deep down and told them to shut the hell up.

"It's fine Ange. You feel very strongly about this topic and it's understandable that you would uh…Rattle?"

"Ramble." Booth automatically corrects her without thinking. Everyone looks at him and Brennan looks deep into his eyes.

"Thank you." She says stiffly, words said in a way that it completely changes the meaning. Perhaps a more accurate phrase would be "I'm angry, so screw you."

The air is tense for a few more seconds and Avalon, quiet this whole time, says.

"And this would be why I'm here." She looks at Hannah, Booth, and then Brennan. She walks toward Brennan's office, knowing that they'll follow eventually.

Hannah turns to Booth, glaring.

"Who the_ hell_ is that?" She asks. Booth looks at Brennan and they both turn to Hannah.

"That would be Angela's psychic Avalon. Normally I don't believe in psychics, but she proved to be helpful on a case, so I've opened my mind a little. Like with Gordan-Gordan and Sweets." Booth grins.

"Better not tell Sweets that Bones. His ego will grow so much, he might have to store in another head or something." Booth and Brennan share a smile and Hannah huffs in annoyance. They look away from each other and back to Hannah, who says,

"Think she'll leave?" Booth shakes his head.

"Not until unless the cards tell her too." And with that they all walk to Brennan's office together, moving slowly. After all, that's how it's best to move in a world where you know everything is about to be tipped on its axis.

They find Avalon sitting cross-legged on the floor, as she had been in Angela's office. Her eyes are closed and she appears to be meditating. They all glance at each other, and then sit in a semi-circle around Avalon. Booth starts to whistle. Hannah taps her foot. Just when everyone thinks the psychic has forgotten about them, she speaks.

"Did you know star positions are not the same as they were, say, a thousand years ago?" Brennan nods.

"Or course. They don't move, we do. The Earth's axis wobbles." Avalon grins and looks at Booth.

"Smart girl, this one. Yes, it wobbles. This tells us life isn't nearly as stable as we wish it was. Things move, things change. Constantly. There's not a damn thing we can do about it."

"Entropy." Brennan says quietly, making a point to not look at Booth or Hannah. Instead she looks at Avalon. "Everything changes." Booth has a quick flashback to his midnight skating adventure with Bones.

"_I'm right here. I won't let you fall."_

Isn't that exactly what he did? Have her open up, and just let her fall to the floor? And he wasn't really _there _anymore, was he? He shakes his head and comes back to reality.

"And everything includes fates." Avalon says as she shuffles her tarot deck over and over. She makes a_ tsking_ sound and mutters,

"All this negative energy… has to be some reason for it." She fans the cards out in front of the three people and tells Hannah to pick a card. Though annoyed, Hannah does as she's told. She points to a card in the center. Avalon picks it up and sets it in front of Hannah.

"The Empress. Reversed. Angela got this card, but for you it has a different meaning." Avalon seems to think for a few seconds. "You feel as though you have a creative block at your job. Relationship difficulties." Hannah gives Booth a sideways glace. "Lack of achievement. You feel as though you're wasting your time with a relationship, you feel as though you're being held back. You're angry and jealous, but hide it well." Hannah's eyes are wide and starting to fill with tears, confirming Avalon's predictions. Avalon turns to Booth, who's a little lost in his own world, and practically shouts,

"Seeley! You've really shot things to hell, haven't you?" Booth stares at her, shocked. "Pick a goddamned card!" Booth, looking a little hurt, picks one from the left and hands it to Avalon. Why the hell was she mad at him?

"Strength. Okay, pick another one." Booth grabs a card from his right. Avalon grins "The Fool, reversed. You've been foolish and impulsive. You feel as though you've acted rashly. Important decisions are to be made Seeley. Very important." Avalon seems to think. "I wonder…Hannah." She gestures to the cards. Hannah picks a card from the middle again.

"Ah…The Wheel of Fortune. You are change, yes? At least an attempt too. I see bad luck. You have a role to play, but it might not be the one you imagined." Hannah just nods, and Avalon looks to Brennan.

"Ah. Temperance. You've changed a lot since I've last seen you." She says.

"Just my hair." Brennan states. Avalon shakes her head.

"Not physically. Emotionally. Pick a card." Brennan does as she's told.

"Temperance. Your name of course and in this case the merging of two seemingly impossible opposites." She looks from Booth to Brennan and sighs. "Perhaps someday. Pick another card."

Brennan's next card is The Hanged Man. "So." Avalon says. "I see things have been turned upside-down. This card means flexibility of mind and a willingness to adapt to changes. You've tried to adapt, but you fear it's not working. But this card has another meaning. Sacrifice in the present to benefit in the future." Brennan looks a little confused.

"What does that mean?"

"Whatever you think it does. I'm just reading the cards. You need to figure out what you're going to do about it. That goes for all of you." Everyone sits in silence for a few seconds before Avalon says,

"Okay you don't need to be a physic to see that all this..." She gestures to Hannah, Booth and Brennan, including them in _all this_. "Is sufficiently screwed up. I wish you all luck." Avalon picks a card for herself, studies it, and then shows it to the group.

"The Tower. I see disruption, major changes. A sudden loss." Avalon says. Then she looks at Booth. "You Seeley have to make a decision about what- or should I say _who_- you lose." She looks at Brennan and Hannah, who are both acting like the other isn't there. Avalon, suddenly as she appeared, begins to pick up her cards and leave. She walks out of the office, leaving three stunned and awkward people in her wake. Booth decides he can't handle that, and rushes after her.

"Avalon! Wait!" he shouts, loud enough for many squints to jump. She waves a good bye to Angela, and stops by the lab doors. She turns to Booth.

"Yes Seeley?" Avalon says sweetly.

"You said…You said that Bones and I would work out! We didn't! She rejected me!" Avalon grins.

"And then you rejected her! Karma. Things even out. And now you both have a clean cosmic slate, so get to work man. Fight for what you want. I mean, your first card _was _strength." And once again she starts to leave, Booth mulling over her words.

"And just for the record, I said it would work out _eventually_." She walks out the door, smiling to herself. Booth, still in a coma-like stage of thought, suddenly hears Avalon shout on her way out,

"After all Seeley, _everything _happens eventually!"


End file.
